Up to now, in Vietnam, no organization has conducted a comprehensive survey and research to provide society with a clear and complete picture of the new generation of Vietnamese entrepreneurs, a generation that is considered to: “play a pioneering role in the cause of building and developing the country’s economy”. Below are some conclusions about the basic characteristics of the new generation of Vietnamese entrepreneurs from different sources of information:
Born and developed in conjunction with the renovation and development of the country’s market economy.
– Most of them are quite young, trained and practiced in the renovation process, have patriotism and national pride. However, there are still a number of entrepreneurs with limited education, low management and business skills.
Have an entrepreneurial spirit, the will to start a business, get rich, dare to accept risks and challenges. Work very hard, be dynamic, willing to learn and reach for new things, have pioneering spirit in some fields.
– Live a cultured, humane life, have a high sense of responsibility to the community, have the desire to be attached to associations, preserve the good traditions of the family, society and nation. However, of course, there are still a minority of businessmen who lack responsibility, ethics and culture in business and in life, harming the interests of the business community and society.
In this article, I would like to delve into three characteristics of the new generation of Vietnamese entrepreneurs, especially during the crisis:
Level of risk acceptance
Innovation and creativity
Pioneering, being ahead of competitors in business activities
Level of risk acceptance
Honorary Chairman of Secoin Company, Professor Dinh Xuan Ba said: “One of the most important qualities of an entrepreneur is to dare to accept risks. Without knowing that, there is no strong business”
However, it can also be said that there is a large number of Vietnamese entrepreneurs who do not dare to accept risks. They lack creativity, innovation, daring to think and act, and pioneering spirit. This is most clearly demonstrated in the “herd mentality” in business activities in recent times. The painful lessons of “herding in stocks”, “herding in real estate”, “herding in multi-industry, multi-industry corporation models”,… have pushed countless entrepreneurs and businesses to the brink of bankruptcy and pushed the country’s economy into a serious crisis.
From another perspective, the daring to face risks in the decisions of a part of Vietnamese enterprises is still heavily “reckless” and the decisions are based on a lack of awareness and understanding. The “risks in the decisions to dare to accept risks” of Vietnamese enterprises can be perceived as follows:
– Lack of wise rules in accepting risks
– Lack of discipline in complying with this principle
– Not measuring to quantify the risks
In other words, the secret to investing is to take risks with calculated risks. Every investment opportunity always carries potential risks. In some investments, one type of risk may be dominant, and others may be secondary. A full understanding of the major risks is necessary to take calculated risks and make quick investment decisions.
In some documents, the following types of risks in business operations are listed: – Default risk; – Business risk; – Liquidity risk; – Purchasing power risk or inflation risk; – Interest rate risk; – Technology risk; – Political risk; – Market risk.
There is a good saying: “No risk means no profit. Where the risk is high, there is also the expectation of high profit”, the problem is only how to manage that risk. Not all of these 8 types of risks can occur at the same time and with the same investment. On the other hand, different types of risks are related to each other. It is important to carefully assess the existence of each type of risk, and its magnitude, in each investment opportunity.
To summarize the issue, I would like to think of the event of Vietnam joining the WTO, which Vietnamese leaders and businesses often like to call “going out to sea”. Going out to sea means accepting risks. The sea contains both opportunities of “full of fish and shrimp” as well as risks of big storms that sink the ship. Only businesses and entrepreneurs who dare to accept the challenges of the sea are worthy of receiving the essence of the ocean.
Innovation
There is a reality that needs to be frankly acknowledged that innovation and creativity in a large number of Vietnamese businessmen are still at a low level. We often say that Vietnamese people are smart and creative, but many times those innovations are fragmented, coping, lacking long-term thinking and initiative. From one perspective, Vietnam is strongly influenced by Confucianism and Buddhism. It is a fact that must be acknowledged that these two streams of thought do not encourage dynamic, creative, and innovative people to overcome the fiercely competitive business environment.
Vietnam’s economic crisis is entering the most challenging phase for the Government as well as the business community. From a personal perspective, the ability to forecast, flexibility in business strategy, and the ability to think outside the box are highly creative factors of entrepreneurs in helping their businesses overcome difficulties.
Here I want to delve into the analysis of the innovative quality of entrepreneurs, which is the ability to think outside the box. The economic and financial theories and business standards that were thought to be the most sustainable and advanced are now shaking violently and causing skepticism among economists and business people. And at the same time, the success of businesses when doing work contrary to the standards has brought unexpected successes. At the end of 2008, when the US financial market was shaken violently, according to the common standard logic, the US Dollar must have lost value, but in reality, a strange thing happened: the US Dollar increased in value strongly and was stable compared to all other currencies. If we explain the problem in a non-standard way, this event has its own logic and if businesses also “behave” in a similar non-standard way, this is a great opportunity for them.
The recent story of Warren Buffet about the principles of success in the stock market “invest when the market is scared…” is proof. Then there is the story of the real estate market in Vietnam: when real estate increases, people rush to buy, when the market goes down, there are fewer buyers. So why don’t we do the opposite?
However, in an exchange, the writer also agreed with the opinion of Dr. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, MBA lecturer on marketing, that the ability to think outside the norm only appears in leaders who are very knowledgeable and have a firm grasp of norms.
Pioneering
When talking about the mission of enterprises, we often emphasize the leading role in economic growth, job creation, meeting social needs… On the surface, it is true, but looking at it from a deeper perspective, imbued in every business activity is the pioneering spirit, paving the way for new ideas, new perceptions and to some extent, positively impacting the vision in social life.
Below, the author would like to present some pioneering qualities in Vietnamese business activities: Pioneering in new products, new services; Pioneering in technology; Pioneering in corporate governance methods; Pioneering in culture and knowledge
When Vietnam transitioned to a market economy, we had a more logical view of the relationship between supply – demand, price – demand; But only when supermarkets Metro, Lotte, The Gioi Di Dong, Nguyen Kim, … launch “super-promotion” attacks, we can intuitively and fully perceive the movement of prices on demand, as well as the power and limitations of consumers in the three pillars that determine the pace of national development, including: export – domestic consumption – social investment.
Along with the motivation to expand the market, businessmen have the need to use national cultural symbols. They are the messengers bringing the quintessence of Vietnam to the world. Trung Nguyen Coffee, Bitis sandals, Kinh Do confectionery, ao dai by fashion designer Minh Hanh, Secoin tiles, … appear on many continents, making Vietnam closer in the eyes of international friends.
Pioneering spirit is also the most important factor in the competitive strategy to surpass competitors. At Secoin Company, the criterion of “always creating novelty” is the guiding principle for R&D activities to develop new products. According to statistics, every month we launch a new tile model and every year we launch 1-2 new product types. That has pushed Secoin’s competitors to always be behind. Every time they copy a tile model of ours, we have time to launch a new model sold at a high price, while the old model is discounted to compete with competitors. With this strategy, Secoin is always the pioneer in dominating and leading the market in its field.
Above are some bold discussions on the main qualities that Vietnamese businessmen need to have in the market economy and are especially useful in the current economic crisis.
Sai Gon, ngày 04.04.2012
ĐHK
